'This was probably the last decent chance AMP had'

Others might have run away in fright when offered the top job at AMP. Francesco De Ferrari saw it as an opportunity to reinvent the business.

“AMP was a unique opportunity," says Francesco De Ferrari of his decision to take on the top job at the beleaguered company. James Brickwood

James EyersSenior Reporter

Sep 13, 2019 – 12.08am

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Francesco De Ferrari was sitting in his corner office in Credit Suisse’s private bank, at One Raffles Link in downtown Singapore, in June last year when he received a call from recruitment firm Egon Zehnder.

In Australia, AMP was imploding. Egon Zehnder had an offer that seemed preposterous. Would he be willing to move his large family to Sydney to lead an unprecedented rescue mission?

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James EyersSenior ReporterJames Eyers writes on banking, payments and fintech. He is a former legal and investment banking editor at the AFR, has degrees in commerce and law from UNSW, and is co-author of Buy now, pay later: The extraordinary story of Afterpay